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Spitzer Space Telescope Releases First Images

Posted by michael on from the long-shot dept.

jkleint writes "The fourth and final of NASA's Great Observatories, the Spitzer Space Telescope, has just released its first images. Spitzer sees in infrared, allowing it to look through the dust clouds that obscure visible light images like those taken by the ill-fated Hubble. Spitzer has already found hydrocarbon spectra--precursors to carbon-based life--in a galaxy 3.2 billion light years away. The article has a very good writeup outlining the telescope's mission and why space-based infrared imaging is important."

20 comments

  1. LOVES THE FROSTY PISS, I DO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    We loves the FROSTY PISS...

    1. Re:LOVES THE FROSTY PISS, I DO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      Filthy hobbitses, they stole our frosty piss.

  2. images by Joe+the+Lesser · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    If I want to see images of uranus and black holes, I'll check goatse, thank you.

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  3. The usual by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic
    Does it show:

    Basidium the Mushroom Planet?

    Saddam's WMD's?

    The Face on Mars

    The Arse on Venus

    That damn lost Beagle

    The shell the Chirpsithra built around the solar system

    V'ger

    Cylon attack fleet approaching

    B Ark leaving

    Kzin attack fleet approaching

    Enterprise on one of those silly time-travel adventures

    1. Re:The usual by aurum42 · · Score: -1, Offtopic

      Hmm, I don't remember Larry Niven's Chirpsithra building a shell around the solar system - are you sure you're not thinking of Greg Egan's quarantine?

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  4. Ahem. by CanSpice · · Score: 4, Informative

    "Just released" in this case means three months ago, of course.

    And you can also go read the comments in the first Slashdot story released for this press release back in December.

    Sure, there's a longer write-up, but the pictures weren't "just released".

    1. Re:Ahem. by Tomun · · Score: 5, Funny

      Not to mention the image is 3.2 billion years old..

  5. The Invasion is at Hand! by killyourblender · · Score: -1, Troll

    Cool! Another place for us to take over someday!

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    1. Re:The Invasion is at Hand! by Tree131 · · Score: -1, Troll
      They have OIL and WMDs!

      Forget Mars, let's go there!!!!

    2. Re:The Invasion is at Hand! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Must have been a republican that modded this down...

  6. Info on Lyman Spitzer by benj_e · · Score: 5, Informative

    Here's a brief bio on Lyman Spitzer, the "father" of space telescopes

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  7. Mallworld by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    No, I was thinking of Mallworld by Somtow Sucharitkul (S.P.Somtow). The barrier-builders are called Selespridar, not Chirpsithra.

  8. Hydrocarbons by Tango42 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    How significant are these hydrocarbon findings? Are similar spectrums detected in other places (eg. the rest of our Galaxy)?

    1. Re:Hydrocarbons by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

      The plural of 'spectrum' is 'spectra'. Thanks.

    2. Re:Hydrocarbons by dnahelix · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      Dear Grammer Nazi,

      The plural of 'spectrum' is either 'spectra' or 'spectrums.'
      Also, punctuation is correctly placed inside a quote.
      You're welcome.

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    3. Re:Hydrocarbons by Muhammar · · Score: 2, Informative

      There is hydrocarbon-based stuff and micro-diamond particles all over in the interstellar space. Their absorbtion bands have been seen in the IR spectra long before. But probably never with such a good resolution.

      Carbon is common, so is hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen.

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    4. Re:Hydrocarbons by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Offtopic

      > Dear Grammer Nazi,

      "Grammer" is spelled "grammar".

      > punctuation is correctly placed inside a quote.

      Let's verify with gcc:

      % cat nazi.c
      #include <stdio.h>

      int main()
      {
      printf("Hello world\n);"
      }

      % gcc nazi.c
      nazi.c: In function `main':
      nazi.c:6: parse error before '}' token

    5. Re:Hydrocarbons by dnahelix · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      > "Grammer" is spelled "grammar".[sic]

      Touche'.

      However, English grammar rules do not apply to coding, nor vice versa.
      So, you've wasted your time writing that silly little "program."
      (Notice the correct use of punctuation and quotes)
      Also, I'll have you note that orthography and grammar are distinctly different.

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  9. All Images from Spitzer by dnahelix · · Score: 4, Informative

    The post is not entirely correct in that the image presented in the article is not the first image from Spitzer. The Images from Spitzer can be seen on CIT's Spitzer Space Telescope page. As you can see the first image was the 'aliveness test' image and the first scientifically useful image was that of the Dark Globule in IC 1396. Great images with links to the high-resolution versions.

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  10. Also at NASA's photojournal by ControlFreal · · Score: 3, Informative

    A comprehensive list can also be found here.

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